MALIBU BARBIE: THE NEW STYLE ICON FOR SS11?!

Posted by Fashion Editor and Junior at Large

I'm in Paris. I love my little hotel on Rue St Honore, and how its just a block from Colette. In the cafe downstairs the manager even remembers my favourite red wine. The first 24 hours have been hectic. I interviewed Heidi Klum at the Ritz for Grazia, not before practically walking into Mario Testino in the lobby, and then being caught up in the flurry of Naomi Campbell leaving the building. Then there was Cavalli's amaaaazing party (read about in Grazia next week). After delivering the copy my first show was Balmain. Read the review over on Grazia Daily.

In the meantime, we have been thinking about the most important looks from London, and have realised that there is a new style icon in town.

Meet the muse for SS11: the one and only Malibu Barbie.

 

 The original Malibu Barbie, circa 1971

Having been released in 1971, Malibu Barbie is an icon from the era that nearly every designer referenced in their SS11 collections. Originally, she was sold wearing a fetching aqua swimsuit, with an eveningwear ensemble called 'Lemon Kick' - a yellow confection of pleated chiffon, with on-trend angel sleeves and flared trousers. 

As bizarre as it may sound, it does seem that Malibu Barbie's pastel-perfect colour scheme, love of a pleat and a way with floaty chiffon has indeed influenced what we will all be wearing next summer. The catwalks were awash with a palette of aqua, vibrant pinks, and flashes of yellow. Sleeves, capes, trousers and dresses were billowing silk-chiffon affairs in very Seventies styles, and denim was always in the palest of Charlie Girl washes. There were large helpings of crystal glitter (a Barbie essential), A-line shapes were enhanced with pleating and the abundance of fringing added to the Malibu beach feel. 

Still don't believe us? Let the pictures speak for themselves...

 House of Holland SS11

 

  House of Holland SS11

Richard Nicholl SS11

 

Giles SS11

 Unique SS11

 Matthew Williamson SS11

Mark Fast SS11

 Richard Nicholl SS11

It's not just the clothes, either. California golden blonde flicky hair, rainbow eye makeup, neon pink highlights and glittery lipgloss were the key runway beauty looks. Remind you of anybody?

Julian J Smith SS11

So there you have it: Malibu Barbie, inspiring girls since 1971, and the style icon for the new season. 

Images: Mattel, Style.com

BARBIE MANIA!

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

This morning was one of those mornings where everything just comes together really neatly. I popped into the Mandi Lennard PR press day to have a ganders at AW10 Gareth Pugh and Roksanda Ilincic (both gorgeous up close) and emerged with a pair of Vivienne Westwood for Melissa shoes and a Barbie doll.

There are 12 dolls in the Barbie Basics range, and four different accessories packs to choose from. Meet Fashion Junior Barbie...

Long dark hair. Thick fringe...

Magazines, and (most importantly) a laptop. Make your own now on ASOS.

Next stop was the Christian Louboutin press day (more of which later) where I spied the Louboutin Barbie collection (complete with skinny ankles. In a recent interview the designer was quoted as saying 'I said to them that the one thing that could really give her perfection is to give a curve to her ankle. It's not like she's going to suffer for it'). The new red carpet Louboutin Barbie (in the booklet below) goes on sale soon.

Finally, on Mandi's recommendation, I headed to Selfridges to check out the Barbie pop-up store in the Wonder Room. Curator Sharmadean Reid (of WAH Nails), has assembled a cultural retrospective of black Barbie dolls. As a child of the 90s this was my favourite:

'Barbie and The Beat: In the wake of the 90s revival, this Barbie is very much a cultural icon of history in a time when black clothing and music started to become mainstream in America. The 1990s was a time for De La Soul, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, the movies of Spike Lee and Yo MTV Raps! and Barbie and the Beat reflects the adoption of black music and language into the homes of little girls everywhere. This Barbie looks very much like a Californian girl who could have had a cameo in Saved By The Bell' - Sharmadean Ried

There's also an entire wall of Barbies playing house:

(Check out Beyonce dancing up a storm on the telly)

These So In Style dolls (which are dressed in Rocawear by the way) were created by Stacey McBride-Irby - an African-American mother who wanted to make a collection of Barbie dolls that her daughters and community could relate to.

The dolls retail for £25 each and will hopefully be sold on Selfridges' new website at some point soon.

BARBIE SHOWS US HOW TO DO SS10!

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

My former assistant Hannah Almassi, now the fabulous Style Hunter and the fashion features assistant to the superchic Kay Barron at Grazia, has a blog (yes, her too!) called fashionfoibles.blogspot.com and today she showed me what she had been up to this weekend. Namely, the below....

Yes, Hannah has been re-making clothes for her Barbies all weekend in the spirit of the SS10 collections. The results, showcased on her blog are, I think, pure genius. The Stella and Kane ones were my favourites, and Hannah forwarded me the JPegs so I could share.

There is a very good reason for this weekend project. Hannah's parents are about to move house and she was taking a trip down memory lane (as you do when you are going through boxes of childhood stuff from the attic) and found 30 Barbie dolls, two Ken dolls, a Barbie and Ken caravan and lots and lots of clothes from the late 80's and early 90's and got carried away. As you do.

According to her mother, Hannah was found sat on the floor in the same position she used to sit when she was five playing with her dolly's. Cute, cute cute. Apart from gaining a bit more insight into Hannah's childhood than I expected for a Monday, I nevertheless instantly understood why Hannah came to study for a B.A in fashion design, and how she came to work at Grazia and become the success she is.

When I questioned her inspiration for the Barbie project Hannah responded with her characteristic half smile and a toss of her mane of hair and said, "The reasons are so deep I think it will take some time to answer the question." 

We don't need the answer just yet, but in the meantime see if you can recreate the last Chanel show using your Barbies, Kens and perhaps the caravan in place of the barn? You just need a bit of hay and some mini-clogs and can turn one of the Ken's into a mini Karl, then Barbie and Ken can start rolling around in the hay.....

You're the best Hannah Wannah!
xxxx